Detecting Binary Non-Return-to-Zero Data in Free-Space Optical Communication Systems using FPGAs

High bandwidth, fast deployment with relatively low cost implementation are some of the important advantages of free space optical (FSO) communications. However, the atmospheric turbulence has a substantial impact on the quality of a laser beam propagating through the atmosphere. A new method was presented in [1] and [2] to perform bit synchronization and detection of binary Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) data from a free-space optical (FSO) communication link. It was shown that, when the data is binary NRZ with no modulation, the Haar wavelet transformation can effectively reduce the scintillation noise. In this paper, we leverage and modify the work presented in [1] in order to provide a real-time streaming hardware prototype. The applicability of these concepts will be demonstrated through providing the hardware prototype using one of the state-of-the-art reconfigurable hardware, namely Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and highly productive high-level design tools such as System Generator for DSP from Xilinx.